Snowball Effect
by Amberlia
Summary: Snowball Effect: A situation in which something increases in size or importance at a faster rate. It started with finding Ian and Jack doing some very questionable acts and ended up with Alex in the hospital. AU. OOC. FAMILY. ONE-SHOT FOR NOW.


It was just starting to get good when the front door opened and Alex came in, loudly announcing his plans to go to Tom's.

And then he froze. Plans with Tom be screwed, but why the hell were Jack and Ian naked on the sofa?

"Uh," came his intelligent response. Ian had one that was similar, only he looked stupider doing it. Mainly because he was pretty much naked, save for his boxers. Only Jack was sensible enough to try and reassure him.

"Alex, I'll explain-" was all she got out before Alex ran off. He didn't feel like listening to anyone whose bra was already in the process of being pulled off. Thank God that Ian had fumbled with it as he had walked through the door. Those clip ons were always rather pesky.

Ian pulled on his shirt, stumbling to the door. He wasn't used to being disheveled or caught off guard. This time, it seemed that his nephew had managed to catch him. That too, in a compromising position.

"Alex!"

Alex ignored him, already taking off down the street. The boy could run fast when he wanted to. Ian didn't go after him, partly because he was still not wearing any pants and also because it might be good to let Alex have some time to process the news.

He sighed. "Look both ways before crossing the street!"

!*!

Alex didn't come home until dinner time. And he had only come home because Toms' parents had started arguing again and Tom had thought it was best if Alex didn't get any plates chucked at his head. Personally, he thought, he'd rather have gone to live in the gutter then come home.

But Ian might file a missing persons' report. And Jack would be worried.

So Alex trudged home.

When he opened the door, he smelt Chinese takeout. Instantly suspicious, he closed the door as quietly as he could, pulling off his shoes. The only reason the ever got take out when Ian was home was if it was a special occasion.

Well. Finding them both naked on the couch was not 'special' though it was an occasion. Ian must have heard the door because he heard him coming downstairs. Alex tensed.

"Hey, Alex,"

He mumbled a greeting back. Jack was nowhere to be found. Maybe she was in his room, he thought, humorlessly. He wasn't stupid; though the proper term had not yet been found in his nine-year-old brain, he knew enough about the female and male anatomy to piece together a few things.

He wondered what would have happened if he hadn't walked in through the door. The thought made him gag, as he remembered a porn clip Tom had pilfered earlier and shown to him.

"I'll take a shower," he tried to move past Ian, but was blocked.

"Let's talk."

"I want to shower."

"You can shower later."

Ian tried to be reasonable. Alex responded by shoving him out of the way as he ran upstairs. Ian watched him go and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He'd told Jack that they should have locked the door, but no, she was impatient. Always in a hurry, he'd found her mouth on his before he could contemplate it longer. Well, she wasn't all to blame.

Damn him and his dick.

Jack peered around from the kitchen.

"He didn't take it well," she said.

"No."

"He knows about the birds and the bees." Despite having engaged in questionable acts hours prior, Jack still hesitated to say the words, as if afraid Alex might hear them. They heard the upstairs showers running.

"That might be the problem, Jack,"

The shower turned off. They heard footsteps and a door slam shut, harder than necessary. Jack flinched; Ian set his jaw, wondering what John would have done. Or anyone else for the matter.

For one, John would have shut the door, a voice in his mind said snidely. And never engaged in such dirty acts on the couch. Though there was that one time Ian had gone to their house a little early and John had answered the door, clearly annoyed. Helen had appeared moments later. He didn't have the heart to tell her that her face was flushed, and there was a hickey on her neck.

Come to think of it, that date lined up around the same time Alex was conceived.

Double damn.

!*!

"Alex! Alex! Come have some dinner."

No response. Jack looked helplessly at Ian, who was now getting annoyed.

"Alexander John Rider! Now!"

There were loud angry footsteps and the sound of a door being thrown open. Alex walked downstairs. His eyes flickered to him and then to Jack as he coldly brushed past them. Ian resisted the urge to grab the boy by the arm, sit him down, and resolve everything once and for all. Jack had already said that Ian liked solving problems, rather than listening to them, and that wasn't what Alex needed right now. So he waited until Alex was engaged in eating his noodles.

Jack sat tensely perched, hands folded. Ian looked at her; she nodded, and he started speaking.

"Alex…"

"What?"

"Don't use that tone," he snapped it before he could stop. Alex looked up, fixing Ian with a gaze that would have made John proud.

"What is it?"

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Jack shake her head at Alex, clearly warning him. Ian forced himself to breathe. Count to ten. Handle this calmly.

"What you saw-"

"Can we not talk about it?" His hand went into the brown paper bag, fishing for the soda. He popped it open; just a year ago, he was still having trouble with the cap, reminding Ian that Alex was growing up.

"Fine." In a moment of surprising diplomacy, Ian listened to Alex. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Nothing."

"School?"

"I said nothing!"

Alex took a drink of his soda. Ian remembered what would have gone down in his own house growing up if he'd ever thought to use that tone. The belt. A few welts on his arm and back would probably squash the need to even think about repeating whatever he'd done. Ian couldn't imagine doing this to Alex; in his worst moments, he still couldn't bring himself to pick up the belt and hurt Alex. He saw that enough at work; hitting Alex would add him to the faces of all the others Ian had hurt. And that list was long.

"Football?" Jack suggested tentatively. "You had a game last week…"

"Forget it. Ian couldn't come. You can fill him in on it later. If you guys aren't so busy kissing."

Ouch. Ian was a little surprised at the scath that came out of the boy's mouth. From her reaction, he figured she was not used to this kind of behavior either.

"Jack recorded it,"

"I suppose you didn't have time to watch it."

"I watched it."

"Sure you did."

Whoever said raising a child was easy clearly didn't have much experience with children. Especially those like Alex. Ian gritted his teeth.

"That goal in the last quarter...brilliant."

He rolled his eyes in response.

"Though your defending could use some work."

Alex paused as he reached for his fortune cookie. He tilted his head to the side, for once not trying to spit barbs. Ian took this as a cue to go on.

"You need to be a little more aggressive. The other team was good, what was their name? Brianwoods. I think you won sheerly because of luck."

Jack was looking at him. Alex had frozen now, studying Ian like he was trying to pick him apart. Dark intelligent eyes similar to his own took him in. Ian felt like he was going through some kind of assessment.

"Alright," he said. The moment was broken as Alex ripped open the cookie. His eyebrows crinkled as he read the fortune, then crumpled it and tossed it away. "Still doesn't explain why you were, you know…"

Ian had managed to steer him into the direction of the conversation he wanted to have. He remained nonchalant as he said, "Right. About that."

"What was that?"

"Sex," Ian replied calmly. Jack made a little noise in her throat at the word. Alex looked unfazed.

"So, like what, porn?"

Another noise from Jack.

"The act is the same."

"Why didn't you lock the door?"

Ian half-smiled at this. "We forgot."

Again, Alex's eyebrows crinkled as he seemed to be calculating something. Ian watched him, dark eyes busy thinking about something. Finally, he seemed to make up his mind.

"Alright. Just make sure you lock the door next time."

Then he got up and left.

Ian and Jack sat in silence. The boxes of takeout were still there; Alex had breezed through one by himself. The soda can lay empty, along with the fortune cookie wrapper.

"That went well," Jack said finally.

"He was madder at me than you."

"Yeah."

"He took it well." Ian added as an afterthought, "as well as he could for his age."

"Did you really have to tell him about sex?"

"He knows what porn is Jack, come on," Ian got up, picking up the boxes to throw in the trash.

!*!

The more Alex thought about it, the more he thought about how he could manipulate the situation. He hadn't told Tom, yet, or anyone else for the matter.

That's when the idea hit him.

The next morning, things had returned to relatively normal. Jack was cooking breakfast and Ian had his tie and suit on, ready to go to the bank to file a report.

"Morning, Alex,"

"Good morning Jack." Alex yawned, then turned to Ian. "Are you working again?"

Ian glanced at him from behind the paper he was reading. He flashed a half sympathetic smile, which was all the answer that Alex needed. Alex sighed, sitting at the table.

"I want a new Nintendo."

Jack took her eye off the scrambled eggs she was making to look at him. "What happen to your old one?"

"Broke it," he shrugged.

"Well, you're going to have wait until your birthday, Alex," Ian put down the paper, glancing at his watch. "Or Christmas."

"No, I won't."

"What?"

"Because otherwise, I'll tell everyone at school what you guys were doing."

That caught both of their attentions. Alex tried to stop himself from grinning but he knew he had a smug expression on his face. One look at his face and they knew he was being one hundred percent serious.

"Sorry?"

"I want a new Nintendo."

Ian scoffed. "Alex, I told you-"

"I will tell everyone."

"Ian-"

"I'm not getting him a new Nintendo, Jack!"

Alex crossed his arms. "Fine. I'm heading over to Tom's; he can be the first to hear the news…"

"Alex," Jack tried to say calmly, though her face was now as red as her hair. The scrambled eggs were burning. Ian got up quickly to turn the gas off before the house burned down. "You don't tell everyone what goes on at home, sweetie. It's not polite."

"Make me." The petulant-ness of nine-year-olds.

"Alexander," his name might as well have been murder on Ian's lips. The man's jaw was set and he looked like he was physically holding back from grabbing Alex. "Stop acting like a brat. I'll get you a Nintendo on your birthday; it's only a few months away."

"I want one now."

"No."

"But everyone at school as one."

"I said, no."

Jack sensed the danger that Ian might blow so she stepped in.

"Alex, sweetie, go to your room."

Alex made a face.

"While, I, uh, and Ian discuss the pricing options for Nintendos."

That made Alex runoff.

"Jack-"

"What are we going to do?" Jack whispered though Alex was nowhere nearby. "We can't let him go telling everyone!"

Ian scoffed. "You think he'll really tell everyone?" Then they both remembered-it was Alex they were talking about. "Oh."

"The other moms will never look at me in the same way!"

"Let them."

"My reputation-"

"Who cares about reputation?"

For the first time in this argument, Jack's mouth hardened. "Of course you don't," she said, a little viciously, "you're not even present in Alex's life that much. When's the last time you've been to a bake sale or fundraiser?"

"I don't bake," he pointed out, missing the point completely, "as for the fundraisers, what do you want me to do? Write a check for a thousand dollars and mail it to them?"

"That's not the point! Be present, for one. And if you can write a check for a thousand dollars, you can't buy Alex one Nintendo?!"

"He's becoming spoiled!" Ian exploded finally. "He won't survive in the real world. Why do you have to coddle him so much? I won't always be holding his hand every time he needs to cross the road!"

"No, you won't," Jack agreed, "because you probably won't even be there for him!"

What had started as an argument over a Nintendo had ended with a full out confrontation.

"You have no right to say that,"

With that, Ian left, slamming the door shut behind him. The house felt strangely empty without him, but Jack was used to the absence of his presence.

And so was Alex, for that matter.

!*!

"Where did Ian go?"

Blatantly ignoring the fact that Alex had caused all this mayhem, Jack gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair.

"To to the Nintendo store."

"When will he back?"

"I don't know, sweetie."

"Is he working again? Is that why he left?"

"No sweetie," Jack reassured him even though she had seen him take his briefcase and papers with him. "Of course not."

It was just one Nintendo, Jack thought later on in the day, sitting on the couch that she had been lying down on yesterday, underneath a certain someone. It would make up for all the times Ian hasn't been present in Alex's life, right? Or the birthdays' that he's missed?

How much did Nintendo's cost anyway? Ian was rich enough to afford it; it wasn't even a problem of money.  
So what was the problem? She bit her lip, glancing at the clock. Alex was at Tom's again. Tom's parents were always fighting, so they generally tended to hang around at Alex's house. Yesterday and today had been the exceptions.

Come to think of it, she hadn't spoken to Mrs. Harris in awhile. The Harris Family lived close by. Even then, Jack got an uneasy feeling. She rang their number. No one picked up. Eventually, she gave up.

Ian was also not back. She could try ringing his number, asking him when he'd be back from the 'Nintendo store.'

On cue, the phone rang.

She went to pick it up. The caller ID read "Ian".

"Where's Alex?" His voice was calm, too calm for the argument that they had earlier. Something was wrong.

"At Tom's. Why?"

"He's in the hospital."

The phone slipped from her grasp.

!*!

Alex wasn't stupid. He'd heard the argument that Ian and Jack had before Ian had left. He knew exactly what had been said, even the spoiled part, which stung him a little. He wasn't spoiled! He could do a lot of things without Ian or Jack's help. He could cross the road without Ian; he'd done it a bunch of times.

Later, he had asked Jack what had happened. She had lied to him. She wasn't as good of a liar as Ian, but she had a lot to learn from Alex, too. He mulled over Ian's words.

Maybe if he proved Ian wrong, then Ian wouldn't be so unhappy. The thought brightened up Alex's mood. He would prove he was not spoiled. He could prove he was independent. In fact, the best way to do it would be to go to the Nintendo store by himself and ask for one.

So he told Jack he was going to Tom's. Jack was distracted, still upset about Ian and the morning, so she didn't even notice him slip a crisp 200 euros from the drawer.

He paid a taxi driver to take him to the closet mall that he knew. The driver had been skeptical about his age, but even at that young age, Alex understood the importance of paying a little extra to get what he wanted.

Everything was fine until it came time to cross the street to get back. A taxi across the street from Alex, the driver standing outside, smoking a cigar, had not been paying attention to him.

"Hey!" Alex shouted. The taxi man didn't seem to hear.

Alex took a few steps forward, clutching his new Nintendo in his hands. He ignored Ian's warnings off looking both ways before crossing the street.

That's when the minivan came barreling through. Alex was flung six feet forward. Dazed, he tried to sit up but hands were holding him down.

It was the taxi driver he'd been trying to signal. So now he notices me, was his last thought before the ambulance came and he passed out.

!*!

If he lives, I'll get him that damn Nintendo, Ian thought as he rushed towards his nephew's hospital bed. I'll get him any fucking thing in the world he wants if only he'll be okay.

He was not a man of strong emotion but when he was hit by bouts like these, he'd be willing to do almost anything. Jack was already inside, her eyes red from crying. Alex had an oxygen mask on his face. His arm had been broken and there were cuts and scrapes on his face and body. It had only been a miracle that he had not been run over.

The people at the hospital had recognized him almost instantly. Considering that Ian was a near-permanent resident, it was understandable.

When a boy bearing a startling resemblance to Ian had been wheeled in, there had been murmurs of shock. The boy was unconscious, so he couldn't give any information. Naturally, the course of action seemed to be to call MI6, who in turn, informed Ian.

Ian had felt shut down before he went into panic mode. He called Jack and Jack had rushed to the hospital. She must have taken the tube because she got there before him. Fucking traffic. Fucking holiday traffic and tourists. Ian had finally ditched the car and ran the three remaining blocks to the hospital. He knew he was a sight-a banker, no briefcase or papers in hand, running through the streets of London, muttering curses and a few, "Fucking move!"

Staring at Alex gave him an uncomfortable jolt in his stomach. It should have been him on the hospital bed, he reminisced bitterly. Not Alex. Despite what he had said earlier, Alex was too young to suffer great pain. And yet, he already had. He'd already suffered from the deaths of his parents and the long absences of his uncle. He didn't need to suffer like this.

I'll get you anything in the world, he thought, desperately, and meant it. He showed no outward emotion, though, just choosing to keep his face grave as he stood beside his nephew's bed.

Eventually, the doctor's came with the news.

"Fractures in his arm. He hit his head pretty hard too; we'll have to make sure it isn't a concussion. Or brain damage."

Jack sobbed at the word 'brain damage'. On instinct, Ian grabbed her hand, giving a squeeze. He'd repeated the move many a time at home when they were watching "The Lion King" and Mufasa had died. Jack would start trembling and the only thing to comfort her would be a reassuring squeeze.

"You're his uncle?" The doctor asked. Ian was too distracted to even read his name tag.

"Yes."

"What about her? Only family members are allowed in the wards."

He'd forgotten these stupid rules. A beat passed. "My wife."

The doctor nodded, not bothering to verify the truth of this. "Alright. Don't do anything that will be upset or startle him. When he wakes up, we'll run a few tests on him."

"Will he be okay?" Jack asked, her voice small, though it didn't shake.

"Yes. He was very lucky to have survived. Under normal circumstances, he would have been run over and almost instantly-"

"Thank you, doctor." Ian cut in, sensing Jack might start crying if he finished that sentence. Even he felt light-headed at the possibility. "We'll be no trouble at all."

!*!

It had all started with not locking the door, Jack thought, miserably. And escalated into wanting a Nintendo. And ended up with Alex in the hospital.

"You said he was going to Tom's."

"That's what he told me." She sniffed, wiping at her eyes. Ian, of course, wasn't crying. Still, this was the most emotional she'd seen him in a while. "I was distracted…"

"I'm not blaming you."

She wiped at her eyes. "They found a Nintendo box lying nearby him. And about 50 euros in his pocket."

There. Ian looked like he had been punched.

"He went to buy a Nintendo-?"

"You said he wasn't ready for this world. That you wouldn't always be there for him."

"But I should have been there for him," Ian's voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "What was he thinking? Going all by himself? I didn't mean it when I said all that…"

But Alex doesn't know that. Jack knew that Alex worked so hard to please Ian, to the point that he'd once stayed up all night making a birthday present for the man before he returned from his trip to Singapore. Then something had come up and Ian had been delayed for three weeks more. The disappointed Alex had assumed Ian hadn't liked the present and thrown it in the trash. Jack tried to go and fish it out but by then, it was gone.

Ian loved Alex. But sometimes, he didn't know Alex. At all.

Jack got up. "I'm going to go get a snack,"

!*!

Alex woke up at seven that evening. His head hurt and his mouth felt dry. The first thing he asked for was "water."

"Where's Ian?" Only Jack had been present when he had woken up. She had rung his cell but he hadn't answered.

"I don't know sweetie,"

"Is he working again?" Disappointment tinged his voice.

"No."

"You don't have to lie to me,"

"Ah, Mr. Rider," the doctor entered the room. He was a large man with a grey beard and glasses. "You're awake. How do you feel?"

"Thirsty. Do you have any more water?"

The doctor chuckled. "Yes. I'd like to ask you a few questions, first. How does your head feel?"

Alex touched it, lightly. There was a bandage on his forehead. "Okay."

"Any headaches?"

"A little."

"Where?"

"I don't know. Everywhere?"

"Sensitivity to light?"

Alex shook his head no.

"Dizziness?"

"No."

The doctor jotted down the notes. "We'll have to run some tests. You may have a very mild concussion."

"Can I have my water now?"

The doctor chuckled once more and left the room.

"Ian was so worried…" she saw the look on his face. "Come on, Alex. Ian loves you."

"No, he doesn't."

"Yes, he does. He just has a weird way of showing it."

"Like he does with you?" Alex made a face at the memory. Jack laughed. She hadn't so much as cracked a smile in the last five hours.

The door to the ward opened. Ian entered, smiling a little awkwardly at Alex.

"Hey."

"Hey." Alex eyed the heavy winter jacket and boots. "First snow?"

"Yeah." Ian cleared his throat. He was holding a wrapped box. "So. Here."

He gave the box to Alex. Alex eyed it, shaking it a little.

"What's in it?"

"Open it,"

Hesitantly, Alex started to remove the wrapping.

"A Nintendo."

"After all this trouble, too," Jack sighed.

"It's your Christmas present. I brought you some new cartridges to, with it."

"Thanks."

"Jack, could I speak to Alex?"

The words 'alone' weren't said. Jack nodded, leaving the ward. Ian took a seat in the chair Jack had been in.

"I'm sorry, Alex,"

"That's a first, coming from you,"

"Don't test your luck." The words were light-hearted, though. "I shouldn't have said all those things. And you shouldn't have blackmailed me and Jack. But especially not me. And uh," Ian's eyes flitted to somewhere behind Alex's head. "Yeah. I love you."

Alex blinked. "What?"

Ian sighed. "I love you, Alex. Even if I don't say it often, I still love you. And care for you." Then he leaned forward, and hugged Alex. Alex didn't know how to respond so he put his arms around Ian and waited it out.

From finding them on the couch to blackmailing them for a Nintendo to getting hit by a van…and getting his uncle to say "I love you", twice, with a hug.

"This is more valuable than Nintendo."

"So you want me to return it?"

"No!"

**A/N: What do you guys think? I typed this at three in the morning and edited it later...so sleep deprived. **

**Criticisms, questions, and comments were welcome!**

**Happy Writing, as always!**

**-Amber **

(The End)


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